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There were smiles of relief all across the DSU council room Nov. 9 when councillors finally, after nearly two hours of debate, approved a motion to eventually ratify the Loaded Ladle.

It was a tense few hours, during which one councillor was cautioned to watch his language. But in the end there was more than the two-thirds majority vote needed to approve the ratification and the criteria that go along with it.

Four things need to be done for the society to be ratified, two beforehand and two afterward. First, the DSU needs to repay all of the debt—nearly $9,000—that the Loaded Ladle has built up without access to their levy.

The debt criteria seemed to be a point of agreement across almost all the council, even from those who were not full supporters of the Loaded Ladle.

“These are students,” said council member Ryan Robski, who created the list of criteria.“Whether or not they are ratified, I want to see their debt eliminated.”

However, VP (internal) Kayla Kurin argued that the budget has not been properly submitted and that the debt shouldn’t be repaid until the society has been audited.

Despite her critique, that criterion was put through. The Loaded Ladle also needs to have either its own insurance or be insured under the DSU, which would mean having two more supervised servings this semester.

After ratification the society will have access to the rest of its levy and a liason will be appointed to oversee communication between the DSU and the Loaded Ladle.

A main concern was the liability of approving a society that had made mistakes before. “This whole situation has dragged on quite a while,” said VP (student life) Jamie Arron. “You should understand that there is a risk involved in this, but if it’s a risk that people are comfortable that the Ladle is going to respect the rules and no one’s going to get hurt, then we should go forward with it.”

The DSU had issued an ultimatum to the Ladle, where the group could continue serving with supervision and on a smaller basis.

But President Chris Saulnier said he was worried about setting a precedent. “You know I love the Loaded Ladle, you know I love you,” he said to Ladle representative Aaron Beale. “But when I hear representatives of the Loaded Ladle saying, ‘We didn’t do anything wrong,’ that really upsets me.”

“Because the Loaded Ladle did do things that were wrong. They served without a health permit. I don’t care what excuses you want to use.”

Nevertheless Saulnier did vote in favour of the motion.

Arts and Science representative Max Ma was one of the proponents of eventually ratifying the society. “It seems we have a preoccupation with covering our own asses,” he said, “which is good, we don’t want to get in trouble. But I think the main point of the DSU is to support the members of our societies.”

After the decision was made, to a long round of applause, Beales and his co-Ladlers left the room smiling, saying, “It’s been fun.”

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